Bowling, March 2012

There's something about bowling that makes you feel like anyone can do it.  Perhaps because anyone can.  That doesn't mean anyone can be good.  In fact, some of the fun is watching someone throw the ball down the lane with the confidence of getting a strike and then the ball goes in the gutter. Must have been using the wrong fingers in the holes, or maybe it was that last bit of english I put on it, or maybe I didn't take the right steps, or maybe I have the wrong size ball.  You have ten frames to figure it out. Bowling is a great leveler.  James is likely the best bowler in the family (he's taken a class though - he's edumacated).

Mark is so fast, he's blurry! 

 I'm always impressed that the floors can take such a beating as the balls leave the hands of some people from four feet up.

And then there's the perk of having a hair dryer.

Jump! Jump! Jump Around!

About a month ago we decided to go one week without watching any screens for entertainment.  We could use screens for educational reasons or communicating needs.  Mark and I stretched the definition of 'educational' and 'communication' but the kids did great!  As a reward we decided to go to one of these new trampoline places that seems to be cropping up everywhere.  When I say trampoline places, I'm not talking about a playground sales place.  I'm talking about a huge room with trampolines for walls and floors. This place only lets you bounce for an hour, which I thought wouldn't be long enough. It is. I planned on jumping with the kids, just to have some fun with them.  Mark was undecided.  But it didn't take long for me to become completely enamored with the foam pit!

Me enamored. . . 

with the foam pits. (DJ's back flop)

You would bounce on these long trampolines and do whatever trick you wanted and land however you ended up - without any broken bones or pulled muscles.

That is until you tried to get out of the pit.  That took some doing.  And how very fortunate it was that there was a camera filming your tricks that you could watch from the pit and then it kept running as you tried and tried and tried to get out of the pit so that viewer can watch the front and the back of you struggle.

Spencer's head flop

And James, the only smart one who wore shorts.

Mark joined in too!

My friend told me that if you jumped into the pit for the whole hour, you would burn 500 calories, mostly by trying to get out of the pit!  I discovered that it is easier to get out of the pit if you move across it like a beetle rather than push your feet downward.  Even more fun for views to watch!

 Running on the walls like Spiderman was a favorite activity and James liked to climb to the top and slide down.  I have to say that the owners were smart in their choice of music (80's and 90's) for all the parents who were there. I think I actually embarrassed Spencer with my head banging.

 I'm noticing that many of the pictures we took were of me and Mark.  Perhaps it was because we were so pleased with ourselves for doing it - for an hour straight! We would get in line for the foam pits, hold each other's glasses and then go again!

I feel it necessary for me to give warning to all Moms out there who engage in such an activity.  I wondered why there were so many Moms sitting on couches, just watching their kids and not joining in on the fun.  I know now.  Having children does unexpected things to your bladder.  So, word to the wise: Refrain from drinking anything up to four hours before jumping. Go to the bathroom before you leave home. Go to the bathroom right before you jump.  Take a few pitstops during the hour and don't drink anything until the hour is up. Just sayin'.

But it's totally worth all the bathroom stops!  It's soooo much fun!

You're welcome.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

They say everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day.  Maybe. We are just trying to avoid little pinchers.

A Lady's Man

I cannot stop this boy.  In the last three months he's had three - wait four - "girlfriends."  First it was Nicole.  When we went to the last parent teacher conference, James' teacher asked us if there was something going on between him and Nicole.  "Ummmm. . . . well, he said Nicole is his girlfriend.  Why?"  His teacher told us he just likes to sit by her and talk to her a lot. He came home one day and proudly reported that he kissed her. I didn't think it was a big deal. What kid hasn't had a little first grade kiss?

Nicole became old news when Sadie became an item because, "she's just so cute and little." I got to hear about the playground antics again, though supposedly without the kissing.

I really got suspicious when I went to read to a different first grade class and when I walked in a girl yelled out, "James likes me!"  Thank goodness she moved away. I don't count her.

Valentines day comes along and as he fills out his Phineas and Ferb Valentines for his class, he informs me he needs two Pixie Stix for Abigail, his true love.  I inform him that one should do the trick, but just for good measure he employs the use of the accompanying heart stickers only on her valentine. Really.

As we were going on a family outing, James informed us that one of the Wall girls is his girlfriend.  "Which one?" I ask.  He said it was Jana.  SHE'S SIXTEEN!!!!!

It turns out she was a fleeting thought, as I discover on Literacy Night that the book he'd written in his class was dedicated to Abigail (his lovebird):

I'm hoping by second grade a rampant case of the cooties attack.

Oh help.

Cake Review 2011

Only four cakes this year.  One for each son and one for my Mom and Dad's 60th birthday party.  All three Astling boy birthday cakes this year were Harry Potter themed.  I tried some different things this year: making my own decorations out of fondant and a edible stained glass window.  I'm definitely not worthy to be on the "Ace of Cakes" show, because as I near the end of making a cake, I don't really care about the details that I thought would be so crucial and just end up glad that I make cakes for family members that will love me for trying.

My brothers and sister and I threw a surprise party for my parents who both turned 60 this year.  This cake is full of fondant representations of things they like or have accomplished.  They love four-wheeling, water-skiing, sewing, reading, cooking, music, exercising, working, using tools for wonderful creations, quilting, my Dad was quite the sportsman in high school (still is), my Mom worked at a bank for many years, they owned a video store called "Five Star Video" (each child one of the stars), and they were married in the Provo temple.

Here are my two favorite fondant creations:

D.J. wanted the graveyard fight scene between Harry and Voldemort, from the 4th Harry Potter book.  I made my own characters and as you will see, scrapped that idea in the next two cakes and went with Lego people.  Besides the fact that I have never been able to even draw people, my boys informed me that my cartoonish people, that are not even supposed to look real, do not quite cut it for a representative cake.  I have no problem with this.  Making people two days ahead of time so they can be dry enough to stand on their own is for cake makers who are paid to do it. Which is not me.

The idea to use non-edible glow sticks for the spells colliding came to me late in the process, but it worked well enough and we therefore had a glow in the dark cake! Mark helped me write the names of a bunch of dead people on the gravestones, with the exception of three stones which had the name of Spencer, Dallin and James.

Spencer requested a scene from the Battle of Hogwarts, which takes place at the end of the last book.  This is my attempt at a part of a castle that a troll is beginning to destroy. Notice the Lego people.

My favorite is the troll.  Rather than make him two days before and hope that he dries in time to hold up, I took a Rescue Hero from the toy box and surrounded him with fondant.

From this:

to this. . . . with a little black loin cloth.

James just read the part in Harry Potter #2 about the dueling club.  This is when Malfoy sets a snake spell on Harry in the middle of a table.  Mark helped me put together as many Harry Potter Lego guys we could find and also included a monkey in an orange suit under the invisibility cloak.  Can you see him?  Didn't think so.

Granna pointed out that when we lit the torches for blowing out, you could see the light making the stained glass window illuminate.  I didn't think about that. Cool effect!  The window I made out of broken Lifesaver candy, melted in the oven in a mold I made of tin foil.  After burning the first two windows and airing the smoke out of the house, the third window was a success!

I know this little hobby of mine seems crazy to many people and that it is a frivolous thing to do.  It is frivolous.  It's not necessary.  It is by no means something I do to show off or make myself look better than anyone else (I blog about it to keep a record).  I do it because I love the people I do it for and I do it a little for me too.  Doing things like this has always been a part of who I am.  I love creating and I love the challenge of creating something from not much.  I admit I get a little buzz, feeling like I'm an amateur Macgyver in cake decorating.  It's the closest I can get to making something successful out of toothpicks, sugar and wire, and feeling like I saved the world for one boy, one birthday morning.  Different people show their love in different ways.  One way I show mine is through food.

Who knew a little soul searching would come from a bunch of frosting?

My Baby is 7!!!

How can this be!  And to boot, he's grown half an inch since the beginning of November!  James has been looking forward to his birthday almost more than Christmas.  In fact, when adults have asked James if he's excited this month, he responds, "Yes, because it will be my birthday!"  This throws people off because they expect some comment about Christmas.  I think this is great because so many people comment on how unfortunate it is to have a birthday so close to Christmas, but it doesn't seem to phase James.

We are beginning to figure James's personality out a little more as he interacts with his brothers, friends and us.  He is certainly a kid who knows what he wants and how he wants it.  He loves to play with his brothers and has no problem sticking up for how he wants something done.  He is still a very cuddly little person and loves hugs and tells us often how much he loves us.  His famous line this year is to Dad when he wakes up or walks in the door, "Dad, you are missing something. . . . a hug!"

James loves school and was so sad that he wouldn't get to go to school for 1 1/2 weeks this month, he woke up on the last day of school before Winter Break and, with arms folded across his chest, proclaimed "I am not participating in this day!!"  I think this is partly because he loves schoolwork, which he meticulously completes and partly because he can't attempt kissing the girls during recess and play on the monkey bars, the latter he claims he is addicted to (thank goodness it's not the former).

This year, when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said, "I dunno, surprise me."  Really? What kid says that?  With no guidance, I had a little difficulty, but I think we came off OK with an Angry Birds game, Scrabble Flash (which I really got for him, but I've probably played it more), a Nerf gun like Uncle David's, and a pogo stick that is still to come (back order - one drawback of a December birthday).  He is reading Harry Potter #2 and decided that he wanted the scene from the dueling club for his birthday cake.

Christmas 2011

It's January 1st. It seems I just turned the calendar page to December a few days ago.  Yes, I still use a calendar with paper pages.  I also use my cell phone to keep track of everything, but it doesn't come with dreamy pictures of crystal blue water and white beaches, which is crucial during the winter months.  But that's beside the point.

December was a fun, fast and felicitous month!  I love Christmas time!  Even though it is highly commercialized, it's a designated month of focusing on giving and wondering what other people want/need, letting people know I love and appreciate them and considering my own blessings.  Here's a look at our month:

Decorating the tree and the house so, as Mark puts it: "It looks like Christmas threw up in here."

A favorite activity after all the Christmas stuff is out is to re-read all the Christmas books in some little cubby.

An actual nativity with the Wheeler Cousins, with actual hay and horses!

A hike in the Logandale sand hills before the Elf party begins.

Three Astling boys who profess disbelief in Santa. Yeah, right. (James even boo'd the Santa at a Christmas party this year - bad form, bad form.)

We were the Ute Elves, by the way.

Grandpa and Grandma Elfis with the Wheeler cousin brood.

Bikes for the boys for Christmas - thank you Santa!

He's officially a Utah fan now that he has his own parking space. Even if it is in our garage.